As reported by NASA (credit : Live Science, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), skywatchers will be able to view the “supermoon” this Monday Nov. 14th. The Moon is expected to be 14% larger in size and 30% brighter. Start watching from Sunday onwards to see how the Moon changes into a “Supermoon”.

However, in South Africa, the moon is not expected to be as spectacular. It is suggested to look at it on the horizon, because of the well-known optical illusion of looking bigger when rising on the horizon, says astronomer Mark Bailey, emeritus director of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland. Supermoons are actually quite common and there is on average one every 14 months. (credit AFP, TimesLIVE, TMGDigital, 10 November, 2016).

With supermoons, comes the warning of rough seas, strong rip currents and higher tides combined with spring tides on the coastline.